Using Heuristic Cues for Insurance Broker's Intention to Select Automobile Insurance Companiesanies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find the key influencing factors that the brokers used as the heuristic cues when they select the automobile insurance companies and propose it to the end customers. The heuristic theory is employed because the broker's decision processes seem to be repeating. Decision influencing factors, mostly, are not different across customers except in some minor conditions. Regarding the common business decision, the major heuristic cues cover both benefit or cost factors. Previous literature in the insurance context suggested several benefit and cost factors. However, regarding the interviews, conducted with the experienced Thai brokers in the initial stage of this research, indicated only four benefits and two cost factors. Four benefit factors i.e. company reputation including customer orientation, quality of operation, financial reliability as well as product quality, service quality, incentives and two cost factors; economic and transaction costs were emphasized as heuristics cues for the broker's decisions in this study. Apart from the benefits and costs, three dimensions of the relationship quality i.e. satisfaction, trust and commitment were also added as another heuristic cues for the broker's decision. Four hundred and three complete sets of survey data were collected from the automobile insurance brokers. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the relationship of each heuristics cue and broker’s intention to select automobile insurance companies. The findings revealed that the service quality had the strongest influence on the broker's intention, followed by costs, product quality, customer orientation and quality of operation. Trust was surprisingly found to have strong but negative relationship with the broker’s intention. Finally, the relationship between financial reliability, incentives, satisfaction and commitment and broker’s intention were not found.